Now, wasn’t that a splendid night last night?

A really special evening, not only due to the cause, Zane’s illness, and the large amount of money the event raised, which gob smacked Zane, but also the quality and joy of the music.

I must offer a very special “thank you” too to all of the musicians who gave of their time and talent so freely.

We also had a number of audience members who had not been to Hedsor before, and I do hope that they were awed enough by the quality of the performance that they come again (and again and again) to help us keep Jazz at Hedsor solvent. As was mentioned in the Maidenhead Advertiser, I wanted to see people smiling at Hedsor Last night, and I think you all did that. Some of you, no names, seemed to have a permanent smile attached. Great.

I did record all of the music on my mini disk recorder, and I hope fairly soon to have that available in a purchasable form. Again, this can raise money for Zane.

The Hedsor Social Club is definitely improving under Mark’s guidance. The beer is now very drinkable, and it was not surprising that the musicians who were not playing at the time did seem to be at the bar end of the room!

I won’t write a lot now about last night’s music, perhaps someone else might like to do a review of it anyway, and I will post in into my blog. I will just put up a few of the photos I took of last night’s event. But there were some memorable musical highlights. “A Train” as a finale will be remembered by many I’m sure. The sudden sound of 4 saxophones, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 guitars, 2 percussion, bass and keyboard could perhaps become intoxicating! When can I get another fix like that one?

So, to Zane.

I visited him this morning. He was absolutely amazed at the amount raised. Apparently when Margie asked him to guess how much we had raised last night, he started at £300, then £500, and when told “over £1000” he couldn't believe it. When I had suggested to him that we ran a benefit night for him some weeks ago, he really did only expect a few hundred pounds.

Zane now has (of this morning) a new chair that can be electrically operated to get him into comfortable positions. He did look very comfortable for sure! It goes completely flat if required, so he could sleep on it if he wanted to.

He does have a number of chemo sessions lined up in the next 3 weeks or so, so we must all keep him on our thoughts and prayers.

But well done all of you who came and participated in last nights fundraiser for Zane.

TTFN

Geoff